This invention relates generally to commercial cooking equipment and specifically to so-called two-sided clam shell cookers which include a cooker head, having an upper cooking surface, that is pivotally movable into a lowered cook position adjacent a conventional griddle surface.
The advantages of two-sided cooking of foodstuffs are well known. Not only is cooking time dramatically reduced with two-sided cooking, but certain foods such as hamburgers, are improved in taste and texture by the application of force during the cooking process. The desired force is a function of the type of food being cooked and the experience of the person using the cooking equipment in determining the optimum cooking pressure for particular types of foodstuffs. The actual force applied to the foodstuffs depends upon a number of factors including the weight of the cooker head, the opposing counterbalance force and the physics of the top head cooker system with respect to the moment arms of the various forces.
The present invention is directed to a very simple, effective adjustment mechanism for adjusting the force applied to foodstuffs by the cooker head without necessitating tear down of the equipment or prolonged interruption of operation.